LA Chargers: Great, good and ugly in Monday Night Football win over Raiders

The good from the LA Chargers Monday Night Football win:

The defense

We have to draw a line somewhere and you could definitely make the case that the defense should be in the great category and I would not argue with you. The defense was extremely impressive in the first half and held the Raiders to under 50 total yards of offense.

However, it did start to show some cracks in the second half. The Raiders made some really good adjustments in the third quarter to get back into the game with back-to-back touchdowns. Luckily, the defense made the adjustment to the adjustment and got a stop when it mattered most.

Derwin James had the crowning play, picking off Derek Carr to essentially end the game. It was a really good defensive performance for the Bolts and it did not even feel like it was the ceiling of this defense. That is a scary thought for the rest of the AFC.

Justin Herbert's first half

The pressure (not mental pressure, actual pressure from the defense) started to get to Justin Herbert in the second half and he was not as good. He did miss some throws with the pressure in his face and honestly, was not anything super special.

He still made the throws when he needed to make them and that is all that matters. In the first half, though, Herbert was exceptional. He completed 20 of 25 passes for 175 yards and three touchdowns. That is a good game for many. It was just Herbert's half.

Special teams

The Chargers did play with fire with some of the early punts that were almost blocked but all-in-all, the Chargers were pretty good on special teams. Tristan Vizcaino did not miss a kick, Ty Long was good, K.J. Hill was good and Vizcaino even nailed a trick punt late in the game.

The only super negative part about the Chargers special teams was the phantom PI call on Nick Niemann.